


Lovers, Backwards

by Lokisgame



Series: Waiting On A Friend [3]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 22:22:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14628243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokisgame/pseuds/Lokisgame
Summary: "You'll get the next one," Mulder said paying the bill and there was an undercurrent of hopefulness in his tone that disarmed and silenced all protest.





	Lovers, Backwards

"You'll get the next one," Mulder said paying the bill and there was an undercurrent of hopefulness in his tone that disarmed and silenced all protests.  
The wine they had combined with high heels from the fashionable side of her coset, made Scully sway a little but Mulder's arm was there, as always, ready to catch. She leaned gently into his side, accepting his touch, inviting it even, feeling as if she was on a vacation somehow, so relaxed.  
They left the restaurant, out into the warm, D.C. night. A sweet scented breeze tugged at her hair, cooling her cheeks.  
"Let's walk a little," she suggested, as he led her back to the car.  
"Where to?"  
"I don't know, straight forward?"  
Mulder never suspected that his kryptonite would be Scully, letting go of all plans.  
They fell into step, a leisurely stroll down the sidewalk. Her heels clicking in time with his shoes, warm hand around his arm, and for the first time that night, he didn't feel the need to fill the silence with talk.  
"Mulder?"  
"Yes?"  
"When we met Gibson, why didn't you want him to tell, that it was me thinking about you?"  
"It was you?" He faked surprise and she leaned on his arm as if bumping shoulders, "I was testing the kid, how precise his gift was."  
"So it wasn't because you didn't want Diana to know?"  
"Oh I told her alright."  
"Told her what?"  
He shook her hand off only to put his arm around her, drawing her into his side. "That I did alright without her." Scully put her arm around his waist, "an understatement of the century, if I might add."  
She looked up and he looked down, smiling at each other without breaking their stride. 

They reached an intersection and noticed a tall shrubbery separating a small square of trees from the noise of the street. The gate stood open, inviting.  
The paths were white gravel, solar lamps hidden between the trees filled the place with intimate lighting, yet still bright enough to make a woman feel safe after dark. The hour was late, there was no one in sight. The scent was more potent here, sweet and heavy, intoxicating.  
Mulder smiled, plucking a cluster of yellow flowers from a low hanging branch and handing it to her, "basswood trees."  
Scully smelled them and it was the fragrance that hung in the air.  
"Beautiful," she said, playing with the flower as they kept walking, "you know, it's a common herbal remedy for cold?"  
"If you say so, doc," he chuckled and before he knew what he was doing, he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. She hugged him back.  
How easy it was to hold her, how natural. This woman, his friend, his partner, there wasn't a thing he couldn't tell her, be it work, trouble, random idea that popped into his head. He had no secrets from her, he wanted to share it all, until they grew old together.  
He thought of the people back in the bar earlier, she could leave with any man there if she wanted to, no one could resist her, but here she was, with him, smelling the literal and proverbial flowers.  
They were passing through an alley lined with wild roses when Scully spoke again.  
"When I saw you with Diana," she sounded pensive, absently playing with the flowers she carried, some dark thought intruding on their pleasant walk, "I realized you had a life before we met."  
"We both had," he amended as she plucked a rose and smelled it as well, he waited.  
"It seemed, as if all it took was a day or two for a familiar pattern to settle back."  
"Scully," he hugged her closer, hoping to chase the gathering clouds away.  
"I know you two were together."  
"It's ancient history, Scully."  
"How long were you together?" She asked to his dismay. He didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't want to lie to her either. He drew her closer, hoping his touch could take the edge off.  
"Six years," he whispered and she stopped abruptly.  
"Six years?" ready for her horrified tone, he gathered her back under his arm, smiling gently.  
"People change, move on, meet new people." They walked on.  
"Why did you never mention her before?" Head hung low, she played with the flowers, her arm not around him anymore.  
"She left me, Scully, it's not something you bring up in casual conversation, and as I said, we never really talked about our past."  
The path bent gently to the right, going in a wide circle around the park. Overgrown jasmine shrubs rained white petals from 8 feet high.  
"You know about Phoebe and I know about Jack Willis, but you can't honestly tell me he was the only guy you were with, ever" he plucked a handful of flowers and offered them to her, "am I right?" She nodded.  
"I'm still me," he spoke gently, trying to bring her back to here and now, "Diana changes nothing between us."  
Looking up, Scully saw his silent plea, for trust, for understanding, for a chance. She took the flowers, and put her arm back around his waist. They kept walking in silence.  
"We do everything backwards." Scully said a few long minutes later, Mulder let out a silent, relieved sigh.  
"How so?"  
She gestured with the flowers in hand "Usually it's flowers first, then dinner, then drinks."  
He laughed, kissing her temple. "Next time, Scully," he promised, "next time."

When Mulder drove her home it was almost midnight.  
Usually, when they came back from a business trip, he parked outside her building, they both got out, he helped her with her bag. They said their goodnight-s or see you around-s and he drove away, it was a time honored ritual. Tonight he got out to get the door for her, but he wasn't fast enough.  
“Mulder," Scully laughed as he fell into step next to her, "I know my way home.”  
“I know,” he replied smiling, one hand on her lower back.  
She went the three steps up to the front door and felt his hand vanish abruptly. He stayed on the sidewalk, their eyes met, one level once she turned around.  
“There are rules” he quipped, “on a first date, this is where we say goodnight.”  
“Rules?” She teased back, going one step down, “you never follow rules, Mulder.”  
"I could try.”  
“And now seems like a good time?” He looked away, hands in his pockets, awkward smile.  
“Scully, I”  
“What?” Sheepish Mulder was a rare sight.  
“If I go even one step farther, there won’t be going back.”  
One finger under his chin, she brought his gaze back on her. “We were good for five years.”  
“This is different,” he insisted.  
Mulder arguing for caution was surely something else, and as nature abhorred vacuum, she filled it with confidence.  
“It is,” she agreed taking his face in her hands, “we can break a rule, or three.”  
Pressing her lips to his, wet and soft and greedy, she kissed him like she owned him.  
Slow and gentle? Fuck that! Mulder grinned and met her tongue, pulled her in skipping all the stops, tasting wine and chocolate and her mouth. Crashing and clashing and stroking, tongues and hands. She somehow caught him on exhale and he grasped for air.  
"Scully, wait," he gasped, but she was back, catching his lower lip, noses bumping, arms around his neck.  
He went all in, if he could die like this, he wouldn't mind one bit. The kiss of death, the kiss of life, all rolled into one. He grabbed her ass and suddenly she stopped. _Whops._  
"Sorry," he rushed, hand back to her hip at once. Scully chuckled, eyes closed, forehead to forehead, they were panting.  
"How are we so good at this?" There was laughter in her tone, surprise and delight, "I'm wet and you're hard."  
"It's the first date," he drew her closer, almost grinding against her thigh. Almost, but not quite, "it's the..."  
"Shut up," and she shut him up. This time she didn't flinch when he grabbed her. She held him tight, fingers in his hair, tongue in his mouth, shifting slightly, the friction drove him mad.  
Mulder broke the kiss this time, glanced at her lips, red, swollen and stretched in a smile. "Okay, this is insane."  
"Why?" she bumped his nose with the tip of hers.  
"I don't put out on the first date." He chuckled and kissed her again, teeth clashing. She took a step back almost breaking the kiss, and he was doomed, he followed, one step up the stairs.  
"Mulder," another step back, another step forward, the angle changed, the kisses wouldn't stop.  
"What?" A kiss.  
"When was," he kissed, "the last time" she kissed, "you went," they kissed, "on a date?"  
"Don't ask."  
Mirth in his tone and kiss the shape of a smile, and a step back, and a step forward, like a dance. Only the music stopped, both back on even ground, they broke apart. Her arms slipped down, embrace loosened and the night seemed four degrees cooler somehow.  
"First date." She reminded, drawing a gentle line and Mulder reluctantly took a step back.  
"Can I call you tomorrow?" What a stupid line, sure he could and would call her.  
Scully glanced at her watch, "in 20 minutes?" He grinned, then nodded. "Sure, why not."  
He leaned down, kissing her cheek this time, soft and gentle, as only he knew how.  
"Goodnight" he whispered and she missed him already.  
She went inside, looking over her shoulder a few times, until he was out of sight. 

Mulder couldn't stop grinning, rooted to the spot. He was hard, crazy and in love, or was it all backwards.  
He took a step just as the doors behind him flew wide open again. Scully grabbed his hand and dragged him inside. He didn't fight, he was a complete and utter flower child.


End file.
